Graphene comprises a planar sheet of sp2-bonded carbon atoms, which are packed in a particular lattice formation. Methods for making graphene have been reported. Some reported methods include: (1) using a drawing method, whereby graphene is obtained by mechanical exfoliation of graphite; (2) epitaxial growth on metal substrates, whereby the atomic structure of a metal substrate is used to seed the growth of graphene; (3) hydrazine reduction, whereby graphene oxide paper is added to a solution of pure hydrazine, which reduces the graphene oxide to graphene; and (6) producing graphene ribbons from cutting open nanotubes. Currently, there are drawbacks with these methods, such as the high cost of large scale transformations, the small size of substrates used for epitaxial growth, and the time-consuming and delicate nature of the drawing method.
Despite the advances in graphene synthesis, there still exists a need for methods which can provide large scale production of graphene cost effectively.